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Samsung DVD E360
by madeindevon
It seems quite amazing to me, that something that was so expensive and state of the art, can now be so cheap.
I am possibly showing my age now, but there was a time when everyone had a VHS player and videos, then when DVD players came onto the market, they cost a couple hundred pounds - but like many things in the world of ... technology the prices eventually came down - now it is commonplace to have a dvd player in your living room.
I have three adult children, one has left home and has a family of her own, the other two are at university. I discovered when the students went off 18 months ago, that my house was looking empty, and not just of people!!
The DVD player in my living room was somewhat temperamental, so I decided to swap it for the one in my daughters bedroom - to find it wasn't there!! hers was so small, that it fitted in her suitcase and she took it with her.. so that was that.
As you may have gathered from my other reviews, I am not a brand name person - I like to think of myself as a Savvy Shopper, so I was on the hunt for a DVD player at a reasonable cost.
I researched what I actually needed a DVD player, which brought the cost down considerably.. We do not have any Blu-Rays, we do not play copied discs - we literally wanted something that would play a film, bought from a shop (Or in my case EBay or Amazon)
I found a nice little model in Tesco, the Samsung E360 DVD player, and was totally happy with the cost, at the time it was about £38 on some sort of promotional offer, today (February 2013) it is £29.99
It looks great to be honest, black, glossy and very stylish. I would have said that it was a much more expensive model than it actually is. So face value so far, top marks.
It has a remote control, which is simple to use. Stop, Pause, Eject, Forward, Reverse, Off-On - so top marks there - and 18 months on we are still on the original AAA batteries!
This DVD player has the facility to put a USB stick in it and watch films or view pictures etc taken from elsewhere - this is something that I have not done, so I wouldn't want to comment - however it sounds like a brilliant idea.
It plays Region 2 discs, which is UK and Europe format
It plays DVD, DVD R, DR, CD, CD RW, DVD Video, DVDR, DVD RW, MP3, DiVx (although I have to admit to not knowing what half of that means... it plays standard DVDs perfectly, for me that is great)
It's dimensions are 300mm x 42 x 208mm
In conclusion, good price, looks expensive, works great
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Argos Value PVS3377 Portable
by broxi3781
Argos has completely revamped this little DVD player, and since I happen to own both, I will include a review for the older model pictured above, as well as a review for the model currently on sale. My rating however reflects the quality of the 2nd machine only as I don't want to rate this one down for the faults of its ... predecessor.
THE OLD MODEL:
The older model of this product looks exactly like the one pictured above. The 7" measurement refers to teh screen of course. The overall product dimensions are as follows : 8 1/2" x 6 3/4" x 2 1/2". The remote has long since been lost as I bought this 4 years ago, but we never used the remote anyway, as this is such a small screen it is always right next to you. All functions can easily be accessed through buttons on left hand side, or play. FF, RW, skip stop and pause buttons inside the console to the left of the DVD door. I always did feel this door was a bit light and flimsy, but we've never had a problem with it, and this was a child's dvd player. That said it did not get a great deal of use due to short battery life.
This set also has the red white and yellow sockets for AV cables so you can hook this up to a large TV and playback onto this instead of the small screen. This isn't something we would bother with at home as we have a DVD player for each TV, but we did try this when staying at Haven. There is an earphone jack and a socket for the AC power adaptor which came included. A separate adaptor was purchased from ebay for in car charging, but I can not remember the price. The DVD player could not play while connected to the in car charger, but could play on the AV lead. To use this in a car - you have to have enough charge on it to watch the programme you wish to see.
The main problem with this unit was battery life. From new this was less than hour, dwindling to it's current battery life of 15 minutes. It was lent out to a friend for a few days, who left laying in the back of a security van. After this playback became much more erratic - and it would not play at all while ac adaptor was in. So while we can technically still use it - it can only be watched for up to 15 minutes at a time. It currently resides in a makeshift for the adult super hero action figures - as the Teen titans do not wish to share their base. For a pretend TV - it is OK but that's about it, and even at that - it wasn't good enough for inclusion in Titan Tower.
When it did work, playback was adequate, if kept stationary. It really did skip terribly in a car due to the movement. Sound was reasonably loud, as one expects to be very close to such a small a screen. You wouldn't expect to hear this over a room full of people. Sound quality however was acceptable for cartoons. I do feel it would be adequate for music, and even for films I would prefer a bit better.
In spite it's problems, my youngest did really like this, calling it his laptop and taking it into bed to watch cartoons. So when it was broken we did replace it for him. I wasn't happy to get another one of the same make, as I really did not like this unit, but it was the only one I could find at a fair price, the Argos ad states it holds a charge for 2 hours, and I had every intention of returning it for my money back if the new model did not meet at least my minimum expectations. I would give this model only 2 stars, and that is being generous.
THE NEW MODEL:
This is still the Argos Value DVD Player, but it is a completely different machine. The screen size is the same, and the overall size similar: 8"x 6 1/4" x 1 1/2" with the main difference being the thickness. It looks much more streamlined with a sharp silver finish and black trim and interior. This also just feels like a better make. The door for the DVD seems more solid, the hinge seems sturdier and it just doesn't feel cheap and plasticky like the old one. It looks like metal but it is still plastic. It has a very tiny remote with all the usual features, which I have never used. There just doesn't seem much point in using a remote for an object sitting on your knee. There is no obvious volume control for this on the main unit - but it is here, There is a large silver circle with OK in the middle and <, ^, > and one which points down but I can't find on my keyboard. You simply use the up and down ones to control volume.
Playback on this is brilliant, with the only fault being small screen size. - which I can't really complain about as this is meant to be small. It is limited to region 2, but most of these personal players are. The picture is very clear and sharp and I have had no skipping or jumping even when moving this about. The sound quality is also quite good. I would not say it is as good as good stereo system, but I would be happy enough to listen to music on this, and it is more than adequate for a good film. According to Argos this will play: DVD, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, MP3, WMA JPEG - but I have never used this for anything except standard region 2 DVD's which work perfectly, and I did try a region 1 which said incorrect region and would not play. No harm in trying though.
This was primarily used by my youngest son, but he has lost interest since getting a small TV set up under his bunk he has interest. My oldest has taken it into his bed a few times to watch in his bunk - as they both have netting which turns their bunks into wee huts. For the most part though - I have inherited this. I like o use this now and again late at night when I'm having trouble sleeping to watch a film before bed. I like the fact that I can leave the sound quite low - or use this with earphones so as not to disturb anyone else. I usually opt to play this at a very low volume as most of the time when I am having sleeping problems, I prefer to be able to hear what is going on around me. I usually play this on about 1/3 volume, but if I were using it in the daytime I would go up to 1/2.
This does not have the same AV cables the older model had, but it does have a USB port so I assume you could connect this to a newer TV, but in all honesty I haven't tried. It also has a connection to connect your phone to this, as well as the standard head phone jack, and one for the AC adaptor. This does come with a standard adaptor, but not a car one and I have not bought one, as this does not need to charge in the car. Argos claims the battery lasts for 2 hours. My unit is less than 6 months old but I have found it to last closer to 2 1/2. this may diminish in time, but as it stands I am very happy with this. You can use this without a charge as well, as long as it is plugged in with the adaptor.
I was very hesitant to buy this, but I am glad I did. At £49.95 this still seemed expensive, but it was the cheapest personal player we could find and in all honesty I can't think of a single bad thing to say about this. I really have tried to find at least one tiny issue to put in the disadvantages but I can not find a realistic fault.
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Argos Value PVS3377 Portable
by sparkleychel
Argos 7" portable dvd player .
I bought the Argos dvd player [ currently £49.99 Jan 2013] for my daughter aged 5. It was bought for 2 reasons , 1st was part of operation sleep in your own big girls bed, and the 2nd was because i wanted more control over what she would be watching as opposed to a television in her room. ...
After some research and deciding cheap and cheerful was the right way to go due to her age and the fact it might get dropped etc , i settled on this one which had good reviews on the Argos site.
The box.
Actually this is the only disappointment due to the fact it has the value range packaging [ basic and cheaper looking] and might put you off if you were buying for a gift , for me it didn't matter on this occasion.
Once opened the box contains the dvd player, a remote control with batteries], and a 3 pin plug wall charger. It is ready to use straight away and can be run of the mains , you do not have to wait for it to be charger to use it.
The DVD player.
Argos specifics tell you its a 7 inch (17.8cm) visible screen size.
TFT LCD screen.
Resolution 480 x 234 pixels.
Brightness 150cd/m².
Shock resistant.
PAL progressive.
DVD region 2.
Playback compatibility: DVD, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, MP3, WMA JPEG.
The dvd player itself is 8" x 6" and comes in silver. On opening, the screen is on the underside of the lid with the disk drive being in the bottom. The dvds are easy to put in and take out . The open button is easy to press and opens the lid automatically for you to insert disk. To the right hand side is an ok button with arrows for going through the menu of your dvd. Also has a stop and a source button.
The on, off slide switch is situated on the outside , right hand side and is easy to use . Along side that is a headphone socket , the charger socket, an AV out and a usb port . There is no volume control on the player , you have to use the remote control that comes with it .
Usage.
The dvd player itself is very easy to use , my 5 year old had it sussed in minutes . Once the player is open press open on the disk drive and insert disk , close and the dvd will be playing straightaway . It lets you do all the normal things you can do on a dvd player, access menus, extras and games etc. The battery life lasts approx 2 hours.
Sound.
I think the sound is very good, and certainly loud enough. On a normal day the volume is set at about 65-70%, at night time i reduce this to 50% which is still perfectly audible and loud enough.
Picture quality.
The player tells you it has 480 x 234 pixels , now that doesn't sound a lot , but the quality of the picture is excellent , due to the small sized screen it looks no different than watching on a full sized television screen. The pictures are crisp and clear and look exactly how they should . We have experienced no jumping or skipping with it .
All in all i am very pleased with this dvd player, and feel i got a bargain , it does everything i wanted it to do, was an excellent price and is quite a sturdy little machine. I would highly recommend this and would definitely buy again should i have the need.
Pros - price and quality
Cons- no in car charger [ but can be picked up cheaply, so not the end of the world]
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